PhD POSITION: Spectrum sensing for edge resource analytics

Organisation/Company UNIPA Department Dept. of Engineering / CNIT Research Field Engineering » Communication engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 30 Jun 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Rome) Country Italy Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

We offer a position for joining the Doctoral Network Spec-X and working in a very stimulating environment at the University of Palermo, Italy.

The overall goal of SpecX is to provide a high-level research programme and doctoral training to 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in large-scale spectrum measurements, analyses, and applications in future telecommunication networks. The goal is to create a research and innovation workforce with transferable skills in applied mathematics, radio hardware, cellular infrastructure, edge computing, artificial intelligence and spectrum management methods.

The specific objective of the position available at the University of Palermo (IT) is the identification of the network functions to be deployed on the edge infrastructures (e.g. resource allocation, anomaly detection, traffic forecast, SW/HW components) that can benefit from the availability of spectrum sensing analytics, and design of techniques and methods to leverage sensing information for improving QoS. The expected results are the identification of the elements of telecom edge infrastructures for supporting distributed sensing measurements and real-time spectrum analysis, as well as algorithms to aggregate and improve spectum sensing data and optimizing network performance. The program includes two secondements at ISRD (PL) and RWTH (DE).

Wireless communication and signal processing, wireless networking and protocols, mathematical modelling and analysis, algorithm design, estimation theory, machine learning, embedded hardware.

Specific Requirements

Candidate profile: Computer Science, Engineering, or Math background (Bachelor and Masters). It is required for the candidate to have a background on telecommunications and mobile networks; it is also appreciated a background on AI/ML or Software-Defined-Radio. Strong analytical skills, mostly focused in algorithmic research and/or mathematical analysis for cellular networks.

Responsibilities

• Actively participate in all actions organized under the assigned project (participation in seminars, contribution to deliverables, experimental setups, coding/testing or mathematical analysis, on-site training, participation to physical and online meetings across the countries of beneficiaries, participation to international conferences, periodic meetings with the supervisors).
• Conduct top-tier research in the key areas mentioned above;
• Be enrolled in a PhD program at UNIPA and publish your research in top-tier journals/conferences in the areas of mobile telecoms, software engineering, mathematical modelling.

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Additional Information

What SpecX Offers:

• Attractive and competitive salary in accordance with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network regulations
• Additional family allowance (if applicable) and dedicated budget for research and training costs
• PhD funding for 36 months through the MSCA network (with potential for additional funding depending on host institution and national regulations)
• Opportunity to pursue a PhD degree at a leading European university within a collaborative, international network
• Comprehensive training programme including research-specific and transferable skills courses
• Opportunities for internships, secondments, and collaboration within academia and industry partners across Europe
• Active participation in workshops, conferences, and network-wide events to build professional and scientific connections
• Stimulating, multidisciplinary, and international research environment within a prestigious European training network

Eligibility criteria

• the candidate SHOULD NOT have resided in Italy for more than 12 months over the past 36 month period BEFORE SIGNING THE CONTRACT. If you are close to meet the requirement PLEASE DO APPLY, since signing the contract can be postponed for a few months. Italian candidates are more than welcome as soon as they MEET this requirement.
• The candidates should be holders of a Master (or very close to completion ) and eligible for being enrolled into a PhD programme in ITALY. BE VERY careful on meeting also the requirement of having resided for at least 2 years outside Italy before signing the contract (eligibility requirement 1).